Which to use
“des” is an article and “dur” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “des” frequency rank
- #940
- “dur” frequency rank
- 950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | des | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Article indéfini du pluriel. C’est ainsi le pluriel de un ou une. | Ferme ; difficile à pénétrer ou à entamer. |
Where the eye mixes des and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: des is \de\ while dur is \dyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
des is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anarticle, pronounced \de\. dur is at rank #940, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dyʁ\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 950, this pair ranks #438,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of des vs dur
Shared letters: d. Private to "des": es. Private to "dur": ru.
"des" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "des" and "dur" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "des" or "dur"?
What to do next
You've compared "des" and "dur". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "des" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "des" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dur". Nearby pair
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.